Fire escape



June 18, 1940. T. A. BARHAM FIRE ESCAPE Filed May 8, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .fl. Bawkm IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNEYS.

June 18, 1940. I. 'A. BARIIAII was ESCAPE Filed May a, 9

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I ta IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNEYS'.

Patented June 18, 1940 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FIRE. ESCAPE Theophilus A. Barham, Norfolk, Va.

Application May 8, 1939, Serial No. 272,507

3 Claims. (01. 227-30) -2- The device forming the subject matter of this close relation to the side walls of the casing C, application is a. fire escape -1" the type in which and being cup-shaped, so as to give a good bearing a support, attached to the body of an operator, for a braking instrumentality to be described carries a drum upon which a flexible suspension hereinafter. The inner end of the flexible eleelement is wound. The invention aims to provide ment 1 is secured at If! to one of the heads ll 5 a brake mechanism which is spring-actuated to of the drum D. The hub l0 of the drum D turns hold the drum against rotation, but releasable at on a shaft 23, mounted in the side walls of the the will of an operator. Another object of the casing C. The heads H of the drum D are invention is to provide novel means whereby the e d p p y by arcllate brake Shoes l0 brake mechanism may be released completely suspended by hangers 15 om the Supporting from the drum. A further object of the invenp n 8- e hang d the pp ends of tion is to provide novel means whereby an operthe brake shoes it apart, to form a space It, ator can control the brake mechanism manually through Which the fieXible element 7 p from the upper portion of the support. The lower ends of the brake shoes l4 are con- It is within the province of the disclosure to 'n et d by ny p f r d number f strong p 15 improve generally and to enhance the utility of p in s 11. a d th may b u f th s p s. devices of that type to which the present invenif desired. The inner ends of outwardly-extion appertains. tended and upwardly-inclined links l8 are piv- With the above and other objects in view, which oted at their inner ends to the lower ends of will appear as the description proceeds, the inthe brake shoes l4 and have movement through 20 vention resides in the combination and arrangeholes in the Casing The Outer ends 0f e links ment of parts and in the details of construction l8 are pivoted to the lower ends of levers I9 hereinafter described and claimed, it being which, intermediate their ends, are inset, for the understood that changes in the precise embodipurpose of b in in the pp r n of the l v ment of the invention herein disclosed, may be close enough to the grips 3 so that one grip and 5 made within the scope of what is claimed, withthe corresponding lever l9 may be grasped readily out departing from the spirit of the invention. by a human hand. The levers I9 are fulcrumed In the drawings: intermediate their ends on rivets 20 or the like, Fig. 1 shows in vertical-section, a fire escape carried by ears 2|, struck out of the body I of the constructed in accordance with the invention; casing C. The fulcrum elements 20 are disposed 30 Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line AB of closeto the lower ends of the levers l9, to give Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows the op rator a hi advantage v h p l f 2-2; the strong springs ll.

Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line AB of A yoke 22 has pivotal movement on one end of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows the shaft 23. The ends of the yoke 22 are in- 35 3-3; clined, and have holes receiving a girt 24, which Fig. 4 is a cross section on the line 4-4 of may be buckled around the body of the wearer. Fig. 1. The upper end of the flexible element 1 is made The fire escape disclosed is made of metal, fast to any accessible object. The springs I1 40 and sheet metal if desired. The support or cashold the shoes l4 engaged with the drum D. It 40 ing C is open at its upper and lower ends and has been found,in practice, that, by means of the includes a body I having a reduced neck 2, proshoes I4 and the springs ll, the device Will revided with opposed, integral, upwardly-extended tain a weight of a thousand pounds. The ophand grips 3, the upper ends of which are secured erator lays hold of the upper parts of the levers within a transverse guide 4, of inverted troughl9 and the hand grips 3 and tilts the levers on 5 shape. The intermediate portion of the guide i their fulcra 20, the links l8 serving to elongate carries a grommet 6, through which pays, withthe springs I1 and ease off the hold of the shoes l4 out undue wear, a flexible metal cable 1. on the drum D. The operator can descend with The cable 1 passes downwardly across a supsuch speed as is desirable or expedient. If, due porting pin 8, if desired but not necessarily, the to excitement or any other cause, the operator re- 50 pin being held for small transverse movement in leases the levers I!) quickly, the brake shoes 14 vertically-elongated slots 9 in the side walls of the will grip the drum D under the action of the casing C. The flexible element '1 is wound about springs ll, and there is no danger, that he will the tubular hub ID of a drum D including heads descend too rapidly. ll secured to the hub, the heads being located in The part 4 is called a guide, because the up- 55 per ends of the levers it? are mounted to move in it. Especial attention is directed to the fact that the grips 3 and the upper parts of the levers 19 are disposed at the top of the fire escape. When the device is attached to the human body, the operator, most naturally, reaches upwardly and can grasp the parts 3 and 9, to control the brake mechanism.

As to the reason why the slots that receive the supporting pin 8 are elongated Vertically, it will be noted that when the lower ends of the levers l9 move outwardly, the links 13 exert an upward pull on the brake shoes M, and the pin 8 can rise a little in the slots 9. The result is that the brake shoes i i are freed from the drum D throughout its entire circumference, there being no drag on the drum, at the top thereof, or elsewhere.

What is claimed is:

1. In a fire escape, a support provided at its upper end with adjacent upstanding grips, means for attaching the support to the body of an operator, a drum journaled on the support, a flexible suspension element wound about the drum, a brake mechanism carried by the support and coacting with the drum to limit the rotation thereof, and levers operatively connected to the brake mechanism and controlling the operation thereof, the levers being iulcrumed on the support and extending upwardly alongside the grips, in close enough relation thereto so that one lever and the corresponding grip can be received in. one hand of the operator.

2. In a fire escape, a support provided with upstanding grips, means for attaching the support to the body of an operator, a drum journaled on the support, a flexible suspension element wound about the drum, brake shoes disposed about the drum, means for connecting the upper portions of the brake shoes to the support for limited vertical movement, spring means coacting with the shoes to cause them to engage the drum, levers fulcrumed intermediate their ends on the support and extended upwardly alongsidethegripsin close enough relation thereto so that one lever and the corresponding grip can be received in one hand of an operator, and links pivoted to the lower ends of the shoes and to the lower ends of the levers, the links being so inclined as to lift the shoes when the lower ends of the levers move outwardly.

3. In a fire escape, a support provided at its upper end with upstanding grips, means for securing the support against the torso of an operator, a drum journaled on the support, a flexible suspension element Wound about the drum, a brake mechanism carried by the support and coacting with the drum to limit the rotation thereof, and levers operatively connected to the brake mechanism and controlling the operation thereof, the levers being fulcrumed on the support and extending upwardly alongside the grips, in close enough relation thereto so that one lever and the corresponding grip can be received in one hand of the operator, and a guide connecting the grips adjacent to their upper ends, the levers being slidably received in the guide, the flexible element passing through the guide, the guide being spaced from the support to give access to the grips and the levers.

THEOPHILUS A. BARHAM. 

